I’ve felt totally uninspired lately but I’m back at it and ready to chat about this, that and everything!

The summer holidays have finally got going in England which means I’m either super busy or have nothing to do, which is how I imagine my entire summer will be. I’ve tried and tested some new things already (some of which I’ve then regretted it the next day when my head was pounding) but I’m beyond excited for the next few weeks of the holidays!! Less so for them to end – seeing as year 13 is about to begin, and so will the last year of my school education.

I’m still not sure if that makes me happy or sad actually…

As I said, it’s August which means it should be summer now, right? Wrong. This is when any foreign readers can feel smug, today it totally chucked it down. Close to hurricane rain, chucked it down. Would this kind of weather been really cozy in autumn when you could light candles, snuggle up in a blanket and stick on Netflix? YES. But instead, it’s “summer” and I was at work. I’m not impressed. Although, this makes me all the more excited about going on holiday soon! Not only will it get me away from this APPAULING weather, but I should hopefully get a tan and a gorgeous Instagram feed too (oh lol go follow me, thanks – @caitlinggodfrey).

I’m keeping this post brief, but any guesses as to where I’m off to would be incredibly fun to see!

Question: (you can turn on anon for this if you want) do you have any low-key secret talents that you want to confess to having?

Mine would be that I sing a fair bit, ohhh and that I can complete a Rubix cube (very slowly but that’s irrelevant)

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As many of you know, I’ve just finished the first year of A-Levels, which means that in only one years time, I’ll be done!! (Although in the meantime it’ll be less fun). This also means that I’m looking at what I want to do after school, which for me, and many other people, will be going to University.

I’ve now been to two Uni open days and I’m trying to work out the best ways to do them properly and to make sure that I’ve got the most out of them – so I’ve compiled a little list of tips that I think are pretty useful, especially if you’ve not been before.

1.BOOK ONLINE: When you’re feeling lazy it’ll probably be quite easy to look at the dates, pick one, and show up. But it’s really handy to register online – for so many reasons. Firstly, some places will probably ask people to register on the day, so if you’ve done this online, it’ll be super speedy and you won’t have to queue or fill in forms. Secondly, it might ask you if you’d like to book onto subject talks. This is handy because spaces may not be available on the day – especially if the talk is popular! Finally, they’ll send you information about the day in the post. This will include information on any talks you’ve booked into and when different things will be happening (such as accommodation tours, things to see in the day, etc.)

2.MAKE A ROUGH PLAN: Using the information they’ve given you, try to timetable the day. It’ll mean that you aren’t running around working out what to do, but nothing has to be set in stone. On the first day I went to, I didn’t do this and I wish I had because I didn’t feel like I’d got the most out of the day. The second time around, we did this and it really helped us work out where we were wanting to be and when.

Our timetable of the day

(as you can see, my handwriting gets worse as you go down the page)

Also, work out what you want to know from different places such as how much is accommodation per week?OR how will I be assessed in this subject? You’ll want to know the answer eventually and it’s best to know what you’ll want to know!

Sidenote here: if you’re not sure whether you can or want to do something, DO IT. You only get to look around the university once, so do everything you can to feel like you got the most out of it.

3.WEAR SOMETHING WEATHER APPROPRIATE AND COMFORTABLE: This is a massive MUST. You’ll be outside a lot so wearing jeans when it’s 35*C is impractical. Also, wearing stilettos is going to kill you. You’ll be doing A LOT of walking around so bear that in mind. Comfortable is the way to go. Check the weather the night before and that morning (if you can). Bring a rain jacket just in case, or loads of suncream if you need. The last thing you want is to be feeling uncomfortable.

4.PACKING SNACKS AND WATER WILL SAVE YOU: All that walking is hungry and thirsty business. I packed BELIVITA breakfast bars with me because they’ll keep you going, but also slowly release energy throughout the day which is really handy. It’ll be really easy to forget to bring water, but it’ll save you that £££ when you don’t have to buy some because you filled up a bottle before you left.

5.TAKE BREAKS: I do a fair bit of walking normally, but open days take it out of me. It’s a mixture of walking and working out where you have to be and thinking about these decisions which can be knackering. I’d recommend breaks, and plenty of them. Whether that be sitting on a bus to get somewhere, or stopping to eat lunch somewhere with a table – it’ll help you relax and settle before you have to continue. We stopped at Nandos and had a well needed, proper, lunch which helped us keep going

6.ENJOY YOURSELF: I am aware as to just how cliche this sounds, but I mean it. The whole process can feel overwhelming and it forces you to think about moving out which can just make you feel even more drained! But you’ll probably only get to do this once, and it’s nice to enjoy spending a day out with whoever you’re with. That way, even if the university really wasn’t for you, it wasn’t a total waste of a day.

Those are my six main tips and I hope they’re useful. I’ll definitely be trying to stick with these more because they are super handy.

The first university I looked around was Cardiff, which was a lovely Uni but I don’t fancy going there. The second was Sheffield (which I looked around the day I wrote this) and I really enjoyed it. It’s important to find a place which caters for you and what you want, but also somewhere that you think you’d LIKE to stay. It’s difficult to make that judgment based on a one-day trip, but I think you get a pretty good flavour very quickly!

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In my previous blog post, I referenced that I’d had a (sorta) miniature and personal revelation, which I just want to share. If you haven’t read the post already, I’ll link it at the end!

So here’s the story; I’d spent my day at school and the weather was super nice outside for April and so asked a group of friends if they fancied going out for a quick walk or “adventure” as I tend to call them, to enjoy the nice day. Nobody wanted to – mostly because we only had 25 minutes left of our lunch break.

Then that afternoon, I was walking home on my own, I had music blasting into my ears and I was only a few minutes from home when I just started to question why I was so dependent on having others around me to have a good time. I realised that if I wanted to do something, and nobody else did, I just wouldn’t.

I was also reflecting on how precious life is and how tragedies happen to the most unlikely of people. Also, how sometimes we are so focused on what our future is going to look like, both short and long term, that we forget to enjoy the now. A prime example of this is my life quite recently. Up until recently, I had been so focused on my future and excited about what was ahead, that I now feel as though I have wasted a lot of my time being 16. I wouldn’t go out to see many people or make an effort to talk to my friends outside of school because I was trying to get ready for going to university, moving out, making new friends and developing relationships etc. I wasn’t enjoying being a teenager and having a little more freedom and also having very little responsibility.

And in my head I started to think this:

“I could die tomorrow in a complete tragedy, or something could happen which could stop me from living as I want to. Why am I waiting to do all the fun and exciting things I want to, simply because I can do them later? Or why am I not doing things, because nobody else wants to do it right now? If I want to go on an ‘adventure’ I will.”

And so I do. I try to apply this to as many things as possible. For example, I mentioned that getting my ear pierced was one of these. I wanted to get it done, why did I need so many people’s approval and opinion? Why was I planning on waiting a while to get it done? I’d decided I wanted the piercing, why was I holding myself back?

And I didn’t have many answers, so I got my mum to agree, because I quite like having her support, and I got my ear pierced.

The same applies for other “adventures”. I’ve told a couple of my friends a little bit about this “revelation” as a joke, and then managed to use it to convince two friends to go on a walk with me, where I had possibly one of the most instagramable photos taken of myself, ever. It’s all about the adventure. It was a typical British ‘summer’ day (and by that I mean, a little chilly, a little breezy, but the sun was out) so I grabbed my sunglasses out of my bag and the 3 of us had pictures taken in front of a huge blossom bush, getting a little bit cold, but we had a good time. It’s a little adventure and a memory that I hope I keep for a long time, I had a hell of a lot of fun taking photos, and having them taken. Plus, it’s always good fun to goof out a little with your friends, right?

So, there it is. My little revelation about how I’m trying to live. I want to take up every opportunity and stop waiting around for a tomorrow. It’s a sad and scary thought that tomorrow may never come, but living this way leaves very little regrets. It’s a philosophy I hope I can continue to live by.

I have a question for anyone who feels inclined to answer:

What is one thing you wish you could do more of?

I’d either say meeting up with people for coffees or exercising, I hate exercising but love feeling as though I’ve got up my heart rate and done by body some good!

What No Makeup for Lent is REALLY Like – Wellbeing

Click here or on the image to read my previous blog post about how I found not wearing any makeup for 40 days!

Talk soon,

Caitlin xx

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I previously mentioned an “event” that happened. While you don’t need to know all the details, and I don’t feel under any obligation to publically share why this happened – in fact, I feel the opposite – you should know this:

My boyfriend and I broke up. I’m finding it hard but it’s okay because I know I’ll be alright, and it’ll be alright. As I also said previously “what is meant to be, will be” so I’m not worrying about my future right now. Or at least, I’m not trying to.

Maybe with time (a lot of it), it’ll be okay to disclose details, but for now, this is something I’m trying to keep private.

Enough of that though eh?

As I’ve said sooo many times before, I gave up makeup for lent and a LOT of things happened!

For starters (I’ve already said this) I didn’t get cat called which was nice if I’m honest. Nothing like creepy old men honking at you while you’re walking to school. Secondly, my skin really improved! I’m so pleased with how much better it has become. And my final thing is how much my confidence has boosted! I can honestly say that I enjoy not wearing makeup and am happy with how I look. Whilst I still prefer to leave the house with some makeup on, that isn’t to hide how I look, or because I’m unhappy with my skin, but because I choose to wear it and enjoy spending time in the morning on myself. I’m happy.

Whilst this is all good, my (now ex-)boyfriend and I did break up and whilst I can’t put that down to not wearing makeup, it did leave me feeling low and blaming the fact that I didn’t “look pretty” but I promptly reminded myself that I am beautiful and that my identity is within myself and God, not in someone or something else. I am happy with myself. I love myself. That is a good thing and I am proud to say that.

Also, so many cool things have happened that I want to catch y’all up on!

My AS exams are in full swing and just under 3 weeks ago my mum told me that she was worried that I wasn’t doing enough revision. I’d also just recently said that I wanted to get some more piercings in my ear, so we agreed that if a did at least 1 hour on a set amount of days, and signed it off every day, that I could get my helix pierced. Well, guess who’s plan totally backfired…

I got it done and I love it!!!!

Reflecting on this, in late Septemeber/early October, I was going through an identity crisis and decided to change something about me, as though to represent a new chapter of my life. On that occasion, I cut off a LOAD of my hair. This time, I’ve gone and stuck a sparkly hole in my ear, and I’m happy with it.

When I got my lobes pierced at 11 (ish), I didn’t have any problems with infection or anything, so hopefully, I have a similar experience this time too.

I’ve been challenging myself to do more things for myself recently, and I’ve had a couple of self-revelations which has been pretty cool. Getting my ear pierced was part of one of them, although half the battle with that was convincing my mum to let me, which worked!!

Back to no makeup! As I’ve mentioned previously, I’ve had people become more honest with their opinions on makeup, mostly males. One of my closest guy friends told me he preferred how I looked without it. I love that it was meant positively and to build me up for my “natural” and “inward” beauty, particularly because it means people around me don’t view my “beauty” as skin deep. But also, I think it’s important to feel confident in how you look and the person you are. On this topic I have two main things I want to say:

Firstly, the thought that you’re only given this body. You cannot change who you are or swap the body you have. It must be a sad thing to be unhappy with who you are, and I remember hearing a story be repeated to me one time about a girl (that the storyteller knew) who had once stood in front of her mirror and write in sharpie pen, everything she hated about herself. This is something that at the time I really identified with, I’d never gone as far as to write down the things I hated about myself, but I would often stand in front of the mirror and look at all the things I hated about myself. I’ll be vulnerable with you here, more recently, a few months ago, I was at a low-low and one night I made a note on my phone and listed all the negative things I felt about myself. I’ve just double checked and I’ve deleted the note, but it had a fair few reasons as to why I hated who I was. It was from things about my personality, through to things about my appearance. I left myself feeling beaten down and useless. It was a low-low.

As I said, this was only a few months ago, now I can tell you, that while I still do beat myself down, I am happy with myself again. I look in the mirror and I am proud of myself. It’s a great feeling to look in the mirror and see scars on your face and instead of thinking “I had my acne scars” to think “my acne is gone! I am blessed”. Instead of thinking “I don’t like my thighs” it’s about changing the attitude to “I am fearfully and wonderfully made”. What’s the point in not being happy with yourself and who you are? You can’t change the skin you’re in. Sure, you can diet, or exercise, or you can wear enough makeup to hide every single one of your insecurities or have surgery. But that won’t make you happy. You don’t get to decide which body you’re in, so it’s important to embrace and accept yourself and your body.

This leads me nicely onto my second point. How do you find happiness?

Believe me, it’s not in finding a partner, or in how many friends you have, or in how many people are “interested” in you, or in alcohol, or sex, or in money, or in how popular you are, or how many parties you get invited to, or anything like that; no matter what the media or society will tell you. You won’t be happy about the person you are with these things. I still learn to love myself a little more every day and learn to accept the person I am becoming every day. But let me tell you this, I have been most happy with myself in my teen years, on three main occasions. The major one I can remember was when I was 14 and early 15. I was looking into getting baptised and I was happy with how I looked and who I was. The second was when I was late 15, I was trying to fall deeper into a relationship with God. The third is most recently, in the last couple of months when I’ve started trying to pour myself into God. Notice the common theme here?

The only thing I truly think that can bring you happiness is God. It’s knowing that He loves you through all of your faults and flaws, knowing that He wants your damage and your mess and your past and your “ugliness” and He loves you and He wants to know you and to help you fix the broken. I love that, and I love that God has a plan for me and that no matter if I’m having a bad hair or a bad skin day, or if I’ve put on a couple of lbs or if I’m wearing makeup or not, He loves me.

I have been happiest with myself and with who I am and the things I am doing when I have known this amazing truth. I love who I am, and I love all God is doing for me.I’ve had other things going on recently, one of the major ones being AS-Levels.

I’ve had other things going on recently, one of the major ones being AS-Levels. It’s amazing to know that through all of this, I have God on my side and whatever happens, that won’t change. I’ve seen this in other’s testimonies and it’s a major part of mine as well. I’ve just got to keep depending on God when things aren’t going my way and continue to depend on God when things are.

Genuinely, this wasn’t where I was intending on taking my post, but here we are. I just don’t think I can talk about my self-worth and identity without bringing Him into it.

I hope you’ve made it this far and it’s actually been interesting and not just sounding like messy ramblings!

I have scary and exciting things coming up in the next little while and I am excited to record it on here and continue to update this little blog. The best part about it is that I force myself to be positive as I write and to also be as vulnerable and honest about things, without going into masses of personal details.

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To say it was a “wild” adventure might be a small exaggeration, but nonetheless, my family and I had a great little adventure out at the zoo.

I really don’t get on with being cold so the fact that it was quite chilly meant that I spent a majority of the day trying to avoid going out and enjoying myself, but I brought my camera and longer lens with me and had a GREAT time! What I’m not showing you are the horrible close ups of my family and some of the pictures my dad took of me with my hoodie tied under my chin and a rain jacket hood protecting me from the gale force mild winds.

I took a fair few photos and it reminded me how much I love doing a little spot of photography here and there. Lucky for you reading, I sorted through them so only my favourite semi-decent pictures are being displayed!

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I forget how much I genuinely love taking photos and how much fun I have.

Highlight of the day: It’s a tie between the lemur breakfast, because not only was that the CUTEST thing I think I’ve ever seen, but also myself and my brother spent all our time making jokes. OR it was seeing pictures of ugly animals on posters and our family saying “hey look it’s a photo of you” to one another. As you can tell, we know how to live.

Lowlight of the day: It was super cold (especially in the morning) so walking around the site wasn’t incredibly fun! Also, we were planning on catching a bus back to the front of the park and missed it because everyone ran to go see the Meerkats before it came in 5 minutes *I’m rolling my eyes here*.

But all in all, I had an absolutely FAB time and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and getting back in touch with a hobby that I haven’t done in ages! I can’t wait to do more!

Also, because you read this you deserve a golden photo of me with my hoodie tied around my head to keep me warm. It looks great!

I was really cold.

Keep your eyes peeled for more soon because Easter means LOTS of posts coming up about loads of exciting and personal stuff, WOOOO!

Until next time and talk soon,

Caitlin xx

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Literally the DAY I put up the post, someone asked why I didn’t just give it up every day, rather than just wear it on Saturdays. So that’s exactly what I did. No makeup for 47 days. I’m 37/47 days in, here’s how it’s going:

Since I last posted I’ve had quite a few people I actually know, come and talk to me about how I’m not wearing makeup and how they’ve read my post, which is great! I loved those conversations. I’ve also had a fair few “I noticed you haven’t been wearing makeup recently, are you doing alright?” which I won’t lie, have made me laugh. I just think “I’m doing fine, READ MY BLOG POST AND YOU’LL SEE WHY!!”

I’ve also noticed that I HAVEN’T been catcalled at all since I’ve stopped wearing it. This may just be a coincidence, but it’s something I’ve noticed. On the other hand, I’ve also witnessed just how great my skin has got. Whilst my scars haven’t all faded, it looks amazing! I’ve had close friends and family tell me that it looks a lot better and whilst I’m excited to wear makeup again, I’m enjoying the lack of it too. Just yesterday I went on a walk with a friend of mine, and he told me that he preferred me without makeup than with. That was pretty cool to hear.

I can’t tell you it’s all been great though. I have had so many low moments during this time and often I’d think “I wish I could just wear some makeup and feel better.” A good example of this is that I got my braces off since lent began (woooooo) but I had to spend 2 weeks missing the teeth next to my front two, and with a plastic retainer on, until I could get the false ones put in.

I didn’t take any “selfies” for a while, and (especially on snapchat) I felt embarrassed to send pictures of my face to people. Additionally, any pictures I did take, I tended to try put my hand in front of my face so it would take the attention away from how I wasn’t wearing any makeup. I was considering myself to be less “beautiful” because I hadn’t put on my (sort of) “alter-ego” identity. It was nice to have that extra confidence boost with makeup.

It’s also meant that others around me were blunter as to how they viewed me before I stopped wearing it. It almost felt like they didn’t realise that after the lent period was done, I would be wearing it again. One conversation that I particularly remember, at the start of this, was someone telling me that “when you wear makeup, you’re only doing it because you want to hide your real face” and believe me, it was nearly impossible to get it through to this person that makeup “enhances” not “hides”, but that was one comment which wound me up, to say the least.

But all in all, I do genuinely love how my skin is looking right now and I’m more confident in how I look than I was when this started! I love that, and will definitely make sure to give a FULL rundown on everything once Easter is done.

More recently than this, I’ve had a bit of a curveball from life, if I’m honest, and it’s taking its toll on me. I’m thankful that I’ve had so much support and love from friends and family, but I’m still finding it hard. This “event” literally only happened this week and my feelings are raw, and I’m down and vulnerable. So forgive me for not disclosing details today, but I also wanted to just write down my feelings.

One of the few plus sides is that I got taken on a gorgeous walk with my mum:

But this “event”, whilst it’s made me kinda miserable, has meant that I’m focusing on myself and how to make myself happy. I’m only taking baby-steps at doing stuff at the moment, but I have been reading the bible more and I’ve bought a journal which I’m using to write down anything I’ve prayed for and to see the responses and what happens. Both these things are exciting and I’m looking forward to documenting all that God is doing in my life and for those around me. Moreover, somebody I know read C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and went on for ages about how great a book it is, so on Wednesday when I was feeling low, I started reading it and I’m now a little under 1/2 of the way through. It’s actually really good and although it’s a little wordy, studying Philosophy helps because the way it’s written is very similar to some of the other things we study.

But mostly I’m remembering that I do actually have so many interests that I’ve lost touch with. I was OBSESSED with doing photography 2 years ago and I want to get back into that. I enjoy buying books with the intention of reading them, although I don’t think I’ve actually got over half way through any in the last 18 months, so reading is something I want to get back into. Also, I used to be able to solve a Rubix cube in 2 minutes, I’ve now forgotten how to do that – so I’m going to re-learn how to do that! But I’ve decided it’s best if I take my days one at a time, so that’s what I’m doing.

Between beginning writing this post and now, I’ve met up with my youth leader from church for lunch and a coffee and she’s been great and given me so much advice and support, as she said, I’m going to “take things one day at a time, and when that’s too much, take it one second at a time” which I intend on doing. I am such a firm believer in “WHAT IS MEANT TO BE, WILL BE” and so I’m just telling myself that things can only get better from here and essentially I’m just at the bottom of a ladder and have got to start climbing, I’ve had the worst of it and I just need to push through until my emotions begin to subside. Loads of people have been giving me advice and love so I’m trying to take it all on board and I want to work on it all!

And I know before now when things got bad, I would blame God and be angry that He let such a thing happen. I can honestly tell you, while I’m upset with this “event”, I’m not angry with God or anyone else and all. At the start of this week I felt worthless and unloved and just crappy in general, and while I still feel rubbish I don’t feel like I’m the least loveable person alive anymore – infact the opposite. There was a bible verse I found today and I absolutely love it and the message it gives, so I wanted to share it:

Matthew 10: 29-31

29 Two sparrows cost only a penny, but not even one of them can die without your Father’s knowing it. 30 God even knows how many hairs are on your head. 31 So don’t be afraid. You are worth much more than many sparrows.

If you don’t quite understand why I love this so much, it’s basically saying that sparrows are so important to God, that He knows about what’s happening with them and if one dies – He knows. Then it’s saying that God knows things about you, that you probably don’t even know (how many hairs are on your head) and that we are worth so much more than sparrows. That must mean we are sososososo important to God and so loved to God if He is concerned with the death of even ONE sparrow and we are “worth much more than many sparrows.” This verse really reaffirmed how loved I am by God and how important I am to Him. I’m carrying that message with me this coming week.

I am so thankful to everyone who is loving me and supporting me during this time. Whilst I am not going to be having the best time in the next little while, I do have many things to look forward to and to get excited about. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s reminding myself that I’ve got to stay positive – which is sort of why I have this blog, it forces me to look on the bright side.

The final thing I’m going to quickly mention is my teeth. As I said earlier, I have false ones in and whilst it’s not the same as having real ones, I have a full smile for the first time in years! So I figured I’d finish up with a final picture as to how they look. I can’t stop smiling with them in! It’s just so exciting!!!!!!

Anyway, I actually have A Levels I need to revise for and sooo much other fun stuff to doooo! (JKS I hate revising!)

Big love, talk soon!

Caitlin xx

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In my previous post, I talked about what lent is and why Christians tend to make a deal out of it. I wrote about how it is linked with when Jesus was in the desert and how He fasted and was tempted by the devil, just to show devotion to God. It also is to count down the time until Easter, arguably the MOST important Christian holiday.

Therefore, I’ve decided that this year, during lent, I’m giving up makeup! I mentioned in my previous post, how nervous that makes me but I’m going to go all in and hope for some positive outcomes.

When I was considering starting up a blog, it was mostly because I was trying to heal my acne and wanted to share and have shared with me, ways in which my skin can be improved and how I take care of it. I’ve been trying to cut down the amount of makeup I wear, knowing that I tend to choke my skin with loads of layers of concealer and foundation. Therefore, I know that not wearing makeup will significantly improve my skin.

So here’s my list of reasons as to why I’m giving it up:

It’ll improve my skin – wearing makeup can suffocate the skin and clog your pores. While my skin was really bad I used to deny this to be true, but it really is! I’m hoping that by not wearing makeup, it’ll give it a better chance of healing and allow any new spots to disappear sooner, rather than lingering. Also, in the summer (or the spring, or anytime at all), the sun can really improve the skin when it is able to reach it. I might even get a bit of a tan! 🙂

I can learn to be happy with the skin I have – I can be very conscious as to how my skin looks and I’d like to think I’m good at accepting compliments, but when I’m not wearing makeup, if someone says I look nice I’m like “lol I have no makeup on so clearly you’re joking.” This is a very negative outlook to have, not only towards how other people view me, but also how I view me. I remember reading somewhere love yourself more than others do. This has really stuck with me, I shouldn’t rely on my self-esteem boosts to come from those around me. So my plan is, that while not wearing any makeup, I’ll begin to love my natural skin, no matter how it looks.

I will ultimately become more confident in the way I look – it is easy to find your least favourite qualities about yourself, and base your view of yourself on those insecurities. So I’m hoping that by not wearing makeup, I’ll become less concerned as to how my face is looking 24/7, and instead begin to focus on my body, eating well and making myself feel great. As well as becoming happier with my skin and how it looks!

I can find other ways to make myself feel beautiful – along with this, I want to find other ways to make myself feel good. Be that by working on how my body looks, trying to find an outfit in the mornings that is a little more classy than “sticking on some jeans and a hoodie” or by improving my skin without covering it up!

I’ll take more time caring for my skin – I am soooo lazy when it comes to a skin routine, and I really like to keep things simple because I can’t be bothered to do anything else besides 2 or 3 things AM or PM. Therefore, by trying to improve the way my natural skin looks, I’ll have formed a routine that works and makes me feel great, along with boosting my confidence in the time I’m makeup free!

I can use the time I save to do something else – my current plan is to spend the time I use in the morning to do my makeup, to instead to do a bible study. I really cannot tell you how little I sit down and do a bible study by myself. Therefore, I’m using this newly gained time to spend time learning about God and what the bible teaches about how I should live my life. I’m also hoping that this will make me look to God more and seek God more often in my life.

It’ll save me money – I’ve already worked out that I spend a crazy amount every day on my face and I’ve worked out how much that comes to overall for the 40 days! Although I’ve had to guess roughly how long it takes me to get through my makeup, I’ve worked out that I spend roughly 54p a day on my face and in the 40 days of lent, that is £21.74 (to the nearest penny). That is a scarily high amount considering I don’t think I feel like my face is worth 54p most days! 😀

I might even exercise! – this is a very “might” but there are two reasons I think this might just happen:

a. A lot of the reason that I don’t want to exercise is that I can’t be bothered to take my makeup off before I do and that I don’t want to be seen outside without makeup on. Additionally, when I get sweaty, I don’t want my makeup to slide down my face.

b. If I’m trying to find other ways to make myself feel good, I can instead work out and exercise and make myself become happier with my body and how it looks.

While it might still be optimistic to say that I’ll exercise, I’m going to try and bring that into my routine.

I have below the table of how much I spend on my makeup per day:

I’ve worked out that overall I’ll be saving £21.74. That is a ridiculous amount of money when I think about little money others have.

Also during lent, I’m going to have a little money jar, where all my spare change will go, and on top of this if I choose to buy any makeup during the 40 days, I’m going to add the amount I paid, onto a “tab” (as such) and at the end of lent, all of the money I’ve saved, spent and the amount I’ve not used on makeup in that time will be donated to WaterAid.

This is such a scary idea for me, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it. I’ll try to keep updates on my blog about how it’s going and at the end, I’ll give a whole rundown on what’s happened and changes that I’ve seen in myself! In the meantime, I’m going to stay positive.

I really hope that what I’ve spoken about might encourage you to also do something challenging and cool for lent or just to raise money for a good cause! If you feel compelled to sponsor me, please just donate to WaterAid, it is an amazing foundation with a great aim and they do so much great work! Drop me a message and let me know if you’ve done something similar!

Question: what are you planning to give up for lent?

Talk soon,

Caitlin xx

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So in case you live under a rock, it’s Shrove Tuesday (or, as I refer to it, “pancake Tuesday”) on the 28th of February which is really exciting and means I can stuff myself silly with sweet treats! But is also reminds me that Lent will be starting in under 24 hours.

As a Christian (that I kind of feel like you should know about me if you don’t already) Easter is a really important time for us as we believe this was when Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of our sins, and to show that He bridged the gap between Heaven and Earth. Therefore, we tend to do a lot of “celebrations,” for lack of a better word, and (especially in my annual traditions) this involves a lot of walking and a service in the centre of our town, on Good Friday. But I’ll talk about the significance of Easter closer to the time. Today, I want to discuss Lent and how it is significant and what it is supposed to represent.

What is Lent?

Lent is a time in which Christians tend to (although are not pressured to) “fast” in some way for 40 days.

It goes back to the start of Matthew 4 where Jesus is in the desert, fasting from food. He does this for 40 days and nights (a very common number in the bible, as featured in the story of Noah and the Ark).

Matthew 4:1-11 (NIV)

Jesus is Tested in the Wilderness

1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerting you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and wordship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'”

11 Then the devil left him, and the angels came and attended him.

In this passage, we see that Jesus was in the desert and while fasting, He was tempted by the devil to worship the devil, to break His fast and turn against God.

Why did Jesus fast?

I’m stealing some of the answer to this from (www.reference.com) which says that Jesus was fasting to prepare for God’s ministry for Him (to be put to death). Despite being tempted, Jesus remained faithful to God and as verse (11) tells us, He was guarded by angels after Satan had left Him.

Many Christians often fast, (most commonly from food – but it can be anything that they feel would be difficult to give up, to try and show more devotion from God. It is to say: “I want and love God more than I want or love said ‘item’.” Very often fasting is used for reflection and to try to become closer to God, in the Christian faith.

Because of this, I try my best to give up something for lent, or sometimes “take something up” that will either be a positive thing for myself; or, strengthen my relationship with God. Before now I’ve given up chocolate (several times actually, most of which I horribly failed at), bad language and overeating/being greedy. This year I’m also planning to give something up, the idea of which really makes me nervous, but you’ll have to wait to see my next blog post to see what that is! Along with this, my plan is to take up reading the bible more and spending more time learning about God and spending time with God.

I hope you found this interesting, I really want this to be remotely beneficial for anyone reading and that you find it tells you a little bit about why lent exists and what the point of it is. Although I haven’t published my blog post about what I’m giving up and why; I’ll make sure to link it. (Incase you’re wondering or reading this before my next post goes up, it’s due to be up on Monday 27th at 16:30!)

Although I haven’t published my blog post (as of when this goes live) about what I’m giving up and why, I’ll make sure to link it on here so if you read this later, you can skip straight there!

Question: regardless of if you do something for lent or not, what might you give up this year?

I hope you enjoyed, talk soon!

Caitlin xx

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On Wednesday (February 15th) I spent the best part of an hour in a car on my way to Milton Keynes, then spent an hour and a half on a very busy train, so I could visit my boyfriend in Birmingham for post-Valentine’s celebrations. We’d arranged what seems like forever ago that I’d visit for the day on Wednesday, seeing as my 16-year-old self, had half-term and he wouldn’t have any midterms that day. Then, on January 26th, I decided that I ought to book somewhere for us to have our dinner, which after 20 minutes of googling, was agreed to be Jamie’s Italian. (Which I booked under his name LOL)

Between the day I booked, and the 15th, I kept hearing great reviews about the food and how it’s a lovely restaurant, so I had high expectations I won’t lie.

VERY QUICK RANT:

When I arrived at Milton Keynes, I quickly found out that my train had been cancelled and I would have to wait 25 minutes for a replacement train. I’m presuming that I’m in a minority of people who have ever been to that station so I’ll tell you this – OH MY GOODNESS ME IT IS THE COLDEST PLACE ON EARTH! (You might be led to believe that the coldest place on Earth is Antartica. You would be wrong. It is Milton Keynes train station.) I wasn’t particularly happy. Mostly because I didn’t want to sit in the cold! The longer I sat waiting for the train, the more announcements I heard saying that it was being delayed, and I can’t remember the wording exactly but something along the lines of “we couldn’t find the driver this morning” was the general gist. I ended up waiting from 8:25 (my original, cancelled train) through to 9:05 (my delayed, replacement train). That’s 40 minutes! I even googled how long delays had to be before you could get your money back. (It’s arriving at your destination 30 minutes late for 50% and over an hour for 100% refund in the UK – just a heads up).

In the end, my replacement train (despite the 15-minute delay) arrived on-time in Birmingham and it was only 16 minutes later than my earlier train would have been. Plus, I got to see my boyfriend so I couldn’t be too mad, right?

Anyway, that’s not the point of this (just a bit of back story and setting the scene)

We had a great day, kept it classy with McDonald’s for breakfast (by breakfast we mean 11AM) and we went shopping, then headed back to his. I met a few of his friends around 4 and it was really nice finally putting faces to names, and it was such a lovely day. Then around 6PM we headed out for our dinner (our booking was for 7PM).

Sidenote: I always struggle to eat well at restaurants. I have no idea what it is, but eating out is always daunting for me and I will (almost) always, leave some of my meal. So I tend to dread going out for dinner, and I’ll be honest, I was dreading going out that night, too.

Clearly, we were WAAY too eager, as we arrived 20 minutes early, but thankfully they had a table for us. Genuinely, the restaurant was gorgeous!

We both chose our meals, I had the Butterflied Sicilian Chicken (which I embarrassed myself in front of the waiter trying to pronounce). It’s described to be “Free-range chicken breast in a spicy tomato, aubergine & leccino olive sauce”. Let me tell you this. It was delicious. The sauce was gorgeous, it was a little sweet but totally moreish. The chicken was sooo delicious. I can’t believe I haven’t been there sooner.

I don’t think I have ever eaten anything as good as that in my whole life. My boyfriend ate the Ravioli Mezzaluna (I’m just glad I didn’t go for that – I would have BUTCHERED the pronunciation). I’m not lying to you, every time we spoke as we ate, all we talked about was how good the food was! I don’t think I’ve ever seen him get a plate so clean. The food was amazing!

We also decided we wanted dessert (seeing as we opted out of having a starter) and so he ordered the “Epic Chocolate Brownie” which our waiter seemed pretty jealous that he couldn’t have any. I, on the other hand, had the Blood Orange Sorbet. Maybe it’s only me, but every sorbet I have tends to be very sour and not very pleasant. This sorbet was NOT like that. It was sooo refreshing and I cannot explain how great it was to cleanse the pallet. I also had a cheeky swap during dessert and was able to try the brownie. WOW OH WOW OH WOW IT WAS SOOOO GOOD!!

I’ve even contacted Jamie’s Italian and said how great the whole meal was.

I’m seriously dying to go back and eat there every night and I will most definitely be going back soon. Honestly, if you have the opportunity to go, do it! The food was incredible and I’m annoyed with myself for not taking more pictures of the food! But I do have a couple, which seriously does NOT do the food justice! Everything was presented gorgeously and I wish I could show you that better!

Butterflied Sicilian Chicken

Epic Chocolate Brownie

I don’t think the pictures do the food justice, but I hope you can understand just how good it all looked.

P.S. on top of the brownie was salted caramel ice cream and popcorn. I would have been all over that if my boyfriend hadn’t have wanted it.

That’s all for now,

Caitlin xx

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I had mocks this week and I had totally forgotten how much I CANNOT STAND exams! They really are the worst. In total, I’ve had 13 hours and 15minutes of exam hours in just 5 days! (I am utterly knackered)

My final exam was a Core 2 Maths paper which felt like I was actually being tortured and now it’s over, I can tell you that I’d much rather walk over hot coals than ever relive that exam [even though I still have to sit it again for my official examination in June, boo 😦 ] I’m not going to share it on here, but my friend took a picture of me after the Core 1 paper I took that morning and I honestly look so rough. It’s probably a mixture of sleep deprivation, lack of makeup and stress, to be honest.

I’m so relieved they’re finally done, don’t get me wrong, and now that it’s half term I am REALLY looking forward to some lie-ins, but I’ve worked (relatively) hard this past week especially and it’s only been one evening and I just don’t know what to do with myself. I’m now worried this will last into half-term. Although, not leaving my bed for a whole week sounds like pure bliss if you ask me!

I’ve tried my hardest this last little while to not become obsessed with how well I’m doing at school and stressing about whether I’ll get good grades or not. It’s important I try my best but the amount of angst that (especially) Maths is causing, frankly isn’t worth it. I’m very much looking forward to dropping the AS in September and never having to sit an exam that even tries to ask what “x” is.

Seriously, what is “x”?

Someone enlighten me.

On the plus side, I have half-term this week which means I can have a little bit more of a relaxed week and a couple of lie-ins (to make up for the lost time).

So the inspirational posts about self-love and “#UgoGIRL” are at a minimum seeing as I’m writing this at 10:50pm (the night before it gets posted), I’ve had a busy week and have work tomorrow morning, plus I’m also dying to catch up on sleep loss so…

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About Me

I’m a 17 year old English girl and really want to share with you my experiences in the hope that you either find it useful for just fun to read! I really love having somewhere to (almost) freely express everything I want to say. Thank you for visiting and please do follow my blog and social media to keep updated about my blog!

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